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OUI suspect is a real hoot

The MetroWest Daily News reports Northborough Police had to call in a bucket truck to arrest a man charged with OUI - after they found him 30 feet up a tree and refusing to come down because he was "an owl."

A police officer acted reasonably under U.S.
Const., 4th Amend., in detaining a man he observed
with an ax riding a bicycle at 3 a.m. A reasonable
police officer, considering the totality of the circumstances,
would reasonably suspect criminal
activity might be afoot upon viewing someone riding
a bicycle, with an ax, at 3 a.m., even though no
recent â€śax crimeâ€ť had been reported. The officer
could reasonably eliminate firefighting and logging
from the list of possible pursuits the man might
have been engaged in, and while there were doubtless
some reasonable explanations that might be
conjured up, the possibility of an innocent explanation
did not deprive the officer of the capacity to
entertain a reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct.

This incident did take place during the hours of
darkness. Stygian darkness. No one who has ever
worked a graveyard shift can underestimate the significance
of any bicycle traffic at that hour, much
less lethally armed bicycle traffic.

[â€¦] While acknowledging the defendant's
right to be in such an area conversing with
acquaintances, the court explained, â€śThree a.m., on
the other hand, is both a late and an unusual hour
for anyone to be in attendance at an outdoor social
gathering, particularly in a residential neighborhood
where he does not reside.â€ť (Id. at p. 155.)

We consider it equally unusual to be abroad at that hour on
any errand that requires an ax.

[...] Nor can we ignore the long history of the ax as
a weapon. While no one refers to a â€śgun-murdererâ€ť
or â€śknife-murdererâ€ť or â€ścrowbar-murderer,â€ť the
equivalent usage with regard to an ax is well ensconced
in American usage. The ax, like the machete
and the straight razor, is an implement whose
unfortunate utility as a weapon sometimes overshadows
its value as a tool.

Thus, while it is true no â€śax crimeâ€ť had been
reported, and while it is true the officer was not
asked what specific crime he might have thought he
was investigating when he ordered Foranyic to dismount,
it was nonetheless reasonable, logical and
legal for the officer to require Foranyic to spend a
few minutes explaining himself and these circumstances,
which were not *191 only unusual, but
unique in the annals of reported California decisions.
Some things cannot be ignored. The judgment
is affirmed.

Elmira was a tough joint. I escaped five times. Once I tried to sneak out
in the back of a laundry truck. The guards got suspicious, and one of them
poked me with his stick and asked me what the hell I was doing lying around
in a hamper. I looked him right in the eye and said, "I'm some shirts."